"Klein's prose style, like his poetry, is dreamy, allusive, repetitive in that way that admirers term 'hypnotic.'"—Publishers Weekly

Written in poet Michael Klein's uniquely passionate, unapologetic but humble voice, The End of Being Known explores the lines that define, yet also blur, the boundaries of sex, friendship, and compatibility. This
collection of autobiographical essays probes the manifestations of sexual desire in its mystical variety: experiencing incest, falling in love, being a twin, and inhabiting the world of anonymous sex—in practice, and, in an essay about the Body Electric movement, as something recuperative and renewing.

Each essay unfurls in a hybrid of poetry, narrative, and fragmentary literary devices. Here is an uncompromising gaze upon the quandaries
of those whose sexual, emotional, and relational worlds collide, yielding no answer to the riddle of desire, yet finding meaning by piecing together personal examples of universal themes such as learning, through trial and error, about love and life.

"Klein is a superb craftsman with a poet's gift for winging in and out of his own life, picking out the bright detail. He often uses rich language to describe the mysteries behind everyday life—accomplishing all this without ever coming across as the pompous center of his own universe."—Harold Eugene Baldwin, Frontiers

Michael Klein is an award-winning poet and author. His poetry collections 1990 and Poets for Life are winners of the Lambda Literary Book Award. He lives in New York City
and teaches memoir writing in the summer program at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

Media & bookseller inquiries regarding review copies, events, and interviews can be directed to the publicity department at publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu or (608) 263-0734. (If you want to examine a book for possible course use, please see our Course Books page. If you want to examine a book for possible rights licensing, please see Rights & Permissions.)

From the Cloth edition:
"Klein enters his memories with a searing clarity steeped
in tenderness. The stories create a fugue of whispers-mysterious,
sexy, and demanding to be heard."Eve Ensler, author
of The Vagina Monologues

What could have been a maudlin, sentimental
memoir in a time when that brand of book is the norm became a
poetic tribute to resilience and creativity. A Lambda Literary
Award-winning poet, Klein (1990) gives an episodic form
to his memories rather than a chronological one, and rather than
make himself the hero, he riffs on what has occurred in his life
in a way that will provoke reflection. While it's true that many
readers will not find his experience of bathhouses or fraternal
incest familiar, most will be rewarded by Klein's amazing ability
to integrate life and interpretation. His life has been difficultdealing
with alcoholism, familial mental illness, and the AIDS epidemic.
The difference is that Klein makes sense of this life instead
of turning it into cliché or a nihilistic pit. He can
also write eloquently about the great issues of friendship, love,
and trust, making the specifics of his life applicable to any.
Recommended.David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libraries.,
Philadelphia

"Michael Klein makes muscular, restless,
relentless sentences that keep coming at you. This is a book
of difficult, beautiful lyricism. The End of Being Known
is, in the end, a knowing memoir, an archeology of a man's body
and mind rendered through language. How is it such a turbulent
interrogation results in a reader's joy?"Victoria
Redel, author of Swoon

"In a world where most individuals
are indifferent, dishonest, and cruelMichael Klein is a
model for truth and responsibility. He faces his trauma and illness
with eyes wide open, refusing to pretend, withhold, or destroy.
Instead, he does the interior work that no one else wants to
do, and emerges as a man who deserves the gifts of life. This
is a very very valuable book."Sarah Schulman, author
of Shimmer

"Klein uses his gift as a poet well in these short memoirs,
packing them with telling images and subtle nuances of sensation.
The pieces are densely written examinations of emotions and sexual
verities that often blur the lines between friend and lover,
and between love, lust, yearning, and kindness. Klein's thoughtful
writing reflects ongoing ruminations, so thought-provoking personal
yet universal that readers may pause occasionally to really absorb
them." Whitney Scott, Booklist, November 1,
2003, Chicago IL

"He can write eloquently about the
great issues of friendship, love, and trust, making the specifics
of his life applicable to any. Recommended." David
Azzolina, Universiry of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia

"Michael Klein's failing as a voice-over
artistcasting directors found him "too unique"is
his great strength as a chronicler of this and other exploits
in The End of Being Known. He beams language through the
prism of his inimitable style, and a dazzle of hidden hues are
revealed." Michael Lowenthal, author of Avoidance and The
Same Embrace

"Michael Klein has the gruff voice
of Lionel Stander and the fine-tuned soul of Rilke. He writes
beautifully. This is not just poetic prose but a strange prose
concentrate that mixes sweet metaphor and brute fact, high ideals
and earthbound comedy. Klein can suggest more in a single paragraph
than many of us can say in a hundred pages."
Christopher
Bram, author of Father of Frankenstein and Gossip

"Michael Klein, like Duras, peels
back the layers of his emotional life to examine the inner workings
of his emotional and sexual soul. The results are stellar, Klein
writes with a nearly hallucinatory attention to detail and an
honesty that is as fascinating as it is disarming."
Darcey
Steinke, author of Suicide Blonde